Franke & Salloum, PLLC

Focus and practice areas

Founded in 1981, this Gulfport practice has spent more than four decades on civil litigation. Its work centers on defense: representing businesses and individuals who are responding to claims. The firm appears before state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate levels.

The named practice areas cover a wide span. They include medical malpractice defense, trucking accident defense, premises liability defense, and products liability. The firm also lists business and commercial litigation, construction site accident defense, insurance defense, and a standalone appellate practice.

Civil litigation at the core

The firm's general civil work runs across commercial litigation, products liability, and medical malpractice. It also covers employment litigation and insurance defense. Corporate and business law sits on the list as well, which points to a practice that serves company clients on more than one front.

As a reviewer, what stands out is the range. A six-attorney firm listing this many areas suggests a general civil defense practice rather than a single niche. The work reads as courtroom-facing, built around litigation more than any one subject.

Where the firm practices

The office sits on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the firm's reach runs beyond the state line. It serves clients in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. That three-state footprint fits a Gulf Coast location, where courts in several states are within driving distance.

The firm's own material points to courts in Gulfport, Biloxi, Jackson, New Orleans, and Mobile. Practicing before both trial and appellate courts is worth noting. It means the firm can handle a case at first instance and carry it through appeal, rather than handing it off.

The listed appellate practice is a point in its own right. Some litigation firms rely on outside counsel once a case reaches appeal. Here the firm presents that step as part of what it does, which can matter to a client thinking past the trial court.

Workers' compensation and maritime work

Two areas here reflect the coastal setting. The firm handles workers' compensation matters before the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission. It also takes claims under the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, which covers many dock and shipyard workers.

The maritime side is more detailed. The firm lists 905(b) claims, Jones Act matters, and questions of unseaworthiness. It also handles maintenance and cure, along with cargo and collision claims. For a firm on the Gulf, that body of admiralty work has a clear source of demand.

The firm also defends FELA claims for railroads. FELA governs injury claims brought by railroad workers. Taken together, these areas form a group of injury-defense work tied to transport, shipping, and industry.

Business and transactional services

Alongside the litigation work, the firm offers business services. These cover banking, corporate, and real estate law. The list also includes commercial transactions and wills and probate.

This mix means a client can bring both a dispute and a transaction to the same office. In my opinion, that pairing of courtroom work and business counsel is a practical fit for a client base of companies and individuals. It also lets a company keep more of its legal work under one roof.

How the team is built

The website names six attorneys. They are Paul M. Franke, Richard P. Salloum, Paul B. Howell, Fred Feeney, Traci M. Castille, and Shellye V. McDonald. The first two names are the ones on the door.

The firm's public pages do not state each attorney's title, law school, or year of admission. A reader cannot compare individual backgrounds from the site alone. What the roster does show is a small, settled group rather than a large staff.

A team of this size tends to mean direct contact with the lawyer handling a matter. For a defense practice, that can help keep a case in fewer hands, from filing through to any appeal.

What the record shows

The clearest fact is longevity. A firm founded in 1981 has kept a civil defense practice going on the Gulf Coast for a long stretch. That alone tells a reader something about steadiness.

The site does not publish case results, settlement figures, or rankings, so this review cannot speak to them. As a reviewer, I read the absence of such claims as consistent with a defense firm, where confidentiality is common and outcomes are often kept private.

What a prospective client can take from the public record is concrete. The firm handles civil defense, workers' compensation, and maritime matters across three states, with a small team and a history that reaches back to 1981. Anyone weighing the firm can start from those facts and ask directly about the parts the website leaves open.